Total Soulful Journey

Let’s face it, we are living in stressful times. In the past week I’ve read many stories on Instagram about anxiety, stress and resilience and I want to share with you three tools that I use to manage stress in my life. These are called the three M’s, which are:

Romantic love is such a powerful feeling that consumes our minds and our hearts when we first fall in love with another person. It sweeps us off of our feet and makes our minds feel floaty and joyful. All that we want to do is be with this person through this period of high vibration and obsession.

I'm no stranger to open space. I mean this in the energetic sense - the feeling that comes with being alone. In a foreign place, devoid of familiarity. I've moved cities and countries enough times to have become well acquainted with being by myself.

Sometime or another, we all feel stuck in our lives. We reach a point of dissatisfaction, but we don't know exactly why or how to get unstuck. Or perhaps we are dealing with overwhelming stress, anxiety, loneliness, weight problems, health issues, relationship conflicts or jobs that do not satisfy our souls. Some people stay stuck and become miserable in life, while others seek the guidance of coaches, counselors and therapists to help them see the big picture, overcome obstacles and eventually thrive.

Since you are reading this blog it’s pretty safe to assume that you are interested in living an extraordinary life. Most people want to make a contribution to this world, to live a life of significance and to feel that they matter, and yet we wonder how how we can rise above ordinary, live our purpose and maybe even change the world for the better…

Last week I was going to write a touching tribute to my mom in honor of her 85th birthday and then I was hit with a serious case of writer’s block. I value your time and the last thing that I ever want to do is to force a blog that lacks heart and soul just to make a self imposed deadline. I have to admit that I was so content after returning from a wonderful time at my first yoga retreat in Sayulita, Mexico that I wan’t able to focus my mind on writing.

Last week I wrote about competition and how it can be a good thing by motivating us to work harder to become the best that we can be. Since writing that post I have really been stepping up my photography and editing game in an effort to push my boundaries and get really good at this craft. This may look like a blog about photography, but stay with me. It actually applies to all of us as I show you the steps the you can apply to become the best that you can become in your areas of interest. These steps are common sense, but sometime we get stuck or discouraged and we need a reminder of how simple it is to get started taking steps toward the fulfillment of our dreams.

Just between us, let me share a current irritation of mine with you. Make yourself comfortable, enjoy your coffee and hopefully you will appreciate this rare rant from me, lol. For the past two and a half years I have been doing yoga, fitness and lifestyle photography for this blog and for my social media. During this time I have created a very nice client list and group of amazing yoga friends. This past week while I was doing more photo shoots in Seattle, I found out that another photographer has basically gone down my client list and privately contacted all of my friends so that he can shoot with them, as well.

I will be the first to admit that I spend too much time on Instagram. In fact, sometimes I spend way to much time and I’m not alone. According to an article published on socialmediatoday.com, teens spend up to 9 hours a day on social platforms and “the average person will spend nearly two hours (approximately 116 minutes) on social media everyday.” That is a significant amount of time and our addiction to our screens is growing.

Do you ever wonder why people make the same mistakes over and over again? The answer to this question is both biological and psychological in my opinion. Patterns in our behavior come from deeply seated habits and beliefs that we have hardwired within our brains. In addition, our love of the chemical neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine can also play a role in promoting our non-productive behaviors, like screen addiction. Once a habit has been developed, it is really easy to repeat it because our brains have developed strong neuro pathways that make it effortless for us to perform these behaviors.

What if your life was a living prayer? And what does that mean? Do you pray, but feel like your prayers are never answered? I’ve heard some people who have been through hard times say that they have stopped praying because their prayers are never answered. Remember that we create our own reality. Our belief that our prayers are never answered becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Without having faith and acting as if our prayers have already been answered, we pretty much run the risk of undermining our prayers through our doubts, which then create low vibrations that do not align with what we want (everything is energy).

Happy New Year and welcome to 2019! Last year had heavy moments for many of us. They happened in order to teach us critical lessons that will help us flourish like never before during the next twelve months. I have learned to be grateful for these lessons, even when they were painful. After all, sometimes it takes pain to move us out of our comfort zones and into radical action.

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? Do you follow through with them? You are not alone if you answered YES to the first question and NO to the second. For example, 90% of people who join gyms to in January no longer go to them by March. And according to Forbes Magazine, just 8% of people achieve their New Year’s Resolutions. Why is that?

A huge source of stress during this holiday season is the “obligation” that we feel to buy gifts for way too many people. This not only bursts our budgets, it also steals our happiness and our energy.

Do yourself a huge favor and narrow down your shopping list this year! Furthermore, try to only give gifts that come from your heart. The Bible says, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Remember that! If you are not a cheerful giver, then don’t bother giving.

Happiness and gratitude go hand in hand. That’s why I start every day giving thanks for 3 to 5 people or things that I appreciate in my life. This immediately puts me into a positive state of mind and sets the tone for creating a beautiful day.

A happy life requires that we become aware of our thoughts and that we condition our subconscious minds with positive thinking. After all, positive thoughts create a positive life, just as negative thoughts create a negative life. The practice of gratitude conditions our minds to be positive, even when our lives are turned upside down by external circumstances.

There is a saying in the news biz, “If it bleeds, it reads.” The news industry is all about making money by peddling bad news to up their ratings. The news primes our brains to feel unsafe by hyping wars, riots, shootings, natural disasters, ugly politics and the list goes on and on. All of these negative Images and messages take a toll upon our feelings of well being and are downright depressing. Watch enough of the news and you are going to feel down. I turned off the news two years ago and I have never felt better. Remember that most news is toxic, so don’t drink the punch! The media also exaggerates our illusion of separateness. It points out our differences such as red states vs blue states, black vs white, rich vs poor, Muslim vs Christian… This is what is known as identity politics and it is designed to pit us against one another. This too preys upon our fears, causing us to have a stress response, so turn off the news during the holidays to preserve your happiness.

I’m guilty of playing small. At least the old me. You see it’s so much easier to play it safe and not take risks in life. If we can just stay small, maybe no one will see our flaws or question what they see in our shadows. This is why so many of us are satisfied with our comfort zones, even though our souls continue to remind us that we were born to be so much more.

Thanks for your comment, Lona! That’s great that you also don’t drink soda pop. Not only does it have lots of sugar, the CO2 that makes up the carbonation also neutralizes the important acids in our stomachs that we need to properly digest our food.

Total Soulful Journey

Total Soulful Journey is a inspiring blog about living your best life through awareness, acceptance and forgiveness with the goal of elevating our minds, our bodies and our spirits to their fullest potential. This blog will help people find their purpose in life and fulfill the calling of their souls through mindfulness. We'll explore the many aspects of love, health, fitness, yoga, nutrition, cooking, careers, entrepreneurship, travel, and manifesting abundance. Awaken with us on a Total Soulful Journey to becoming the best version of you!

Total Soulful Journey is an inspiring blog about living your best life. It was created by Paul Garrett and Libby McAvoy, who met on Instagram in 2015. They instantly connected over their mutual passion for nature, cooking, travel, fitness, health and wellness, and all things spiritual. Paul is a writer, an award winning filmmaker and an internationally published photographer who lives in the Pacific Northwest. Libby is a yoga instructor, a writer and the creator of the blog, Journey to the Life You Love in Cincinnati, Ohio. Learn more about their mission by clicking on the About tab.